Today Las Vegas, Nevada is known as the fight capital
of the world (both boxing and MMA) and the reason for that has a long history.
Prizefights had been conducted throughout the US Western frontier from the 1840s
onward with supervised bouts being held in saloons, railway stops, mining
camps, in short, anywhere you could get two fighters together and draw a crowd.
Despite the reputation of being the Wild West, the sport was considered neither
respectable nor was it necessarily legal. One of the early adopters of making
prizefighting legal was, you guessed it, the state of Nevada—they did so in
1897.
Like
most good decisions a bit of greed was at the heart of it. Nevada had fallen on
tough economic times after a long boom period. Carson City (one of the nation’s
smallest capitals at the time) was only a few miles from the Comstock Lode-one
of the biggest silver lodes in US history. Miners (and all those who profit
from miners) flocked to Nevada to make their fortunes (or at least try). But at
the time of our story-1897-the Comstock Lode has been used up, Nevada population
declined from approximately 62,000 to 42,000 and the state was in dire need of
money (familiar story, huh?)
Then as
now, Nevadans ball parked on tourist dollars as a revenue generator, why not
sanction a legal prizefight and snag some of that money that so many had been
reaping “illegally”? The chosen contenders for this first foray into legal prizefighting
in Nevada, the heavyweight champion Gentleman Jim Corbett and Robert Prometheus
“Bob” Fitzsimmons. Fitz had been pursuing the title (and Corbett) for some
time. The fight was scheduled for March 17, 1897.
Just as
intriguing as the two fistic legends in the ring were two other legends to
populate the corner of each fighter. In Fitzsimmons’ corner, non-other than Bat
Masterson. Bat Masterson had made his fame as a lawman who had his share of gun
battles. He later parlayed his fame into writing a weekly sports column and promoting
prizefights.
In the
champion’s corner, another noted Old West personage, none other than Wyatt
Earp. Earp of Gunfight at the OK Corral fame, was also a none too shabby
amateur boxer who loved the game so much he had been refereeing on and off for
over 30 years by the time of this historic bout. There’s a bit more than simply
preferring the champion to Earp being in Corbett’s corner. He and Fitzsimmons’
did not care for one another at all, as with most things in the Old West
there’s a story there.
In the fall
of 1895 Fitzsimmons faced uber-tough Jack Sharkey in San Francisco. Fitz
knocked out Sharkey but the ref ruled the blow low and awarded the $10,000
dollar purse to Sharkey’s manager. Rumors flew fast and furious that the ref got
a piece of that action.
The ref? Wyatt Earp himself.
The ref for this fight was to be George Siler known
for his good refereeing and integrity, but the bad blood between two known shootists
and the flood of talk hinting at gunplay in the ring should something go awry
did play on Siler’s nerves.
The
fight commenced with Gentleman Jim doing his usual excellent job of
establishing the jab and dancing away in early rounds. He found a home for his
lead so often that the Boston Globe
reported that Fitz’s face looked like “raw
beef.” In the sixth Fitz was dropped, once he hit the canvas he wrapped his
arms around the champ’s legs. Referee Siler started the count late, either
because of the confusing tactic of Fitz hugging Corbett’s legs, or as some say,
Siler being a bit worried about displeasing Masterson or Earp he didn’t want to
provoke gunfire across the ring. Whichever way you take it Fitz enjoyed a “long
count” situation.
The
rounds following this confusing sixth round moved closer to give-and-take territory
that is until the 14th round. In the 14th Fitz landed his
famous “solar plexus punch” and dropped Corbett. This time there was no confusion
with the count. Once the champ had been counted out, Corbett regained his feet
and rushed Fitz’s corner and tried to swing at the new champ. The Boston Globe reported “There were suspicious hip-pocket movements
on every side of the ring. Several blackjacks were drawn. Then Corbett came to
his senses and permitted himself to be led away to his dressing room.”
The long
and short of it, Fitz was crowned the new champ, the shootists didn’t shoot, the
Las Vegas’ tourist dollars gambit worked paving the way for future fights, and
we can view all of this today as it was the first championship fight to be
filmed for the emerging media of “moving pictures.”
Mark is such an incredible writer & storyteller. That's bested only by his teaching. I have over 200 of his DVDs, perhaps 250. Some that are very rare and out of print. There is not one second literally wasted on any of Mark's DVDs. Buy them all.
ReplyDeleteA kindness, thank you, sir.
Delete